Cribbing



March 29, 1932. H NT O 1351,959

c'xxaame 2 Sfieets-Sheet 1 Filed March 22, 1929 Marcb 9, 1932- J. s.HUNTOON CRIBBING Filed March 22, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 29,1932 UNITED STATES, PATENT oFFIcE JOHN S. HUNTOON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN,ASSIGNOB TO MASSEY CONCRETE PROD- UCTS CORPORATION,-OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS,.A CORPORATION OF VIRGIITIA' CBIBBING Application filed March22, 1929. Serial No. 349,021.

g The present invention relates to cribbing, and is particularlyconcerned with cribbing of the closed face type; that is, cribbingadapted to be present a substantially closed forward wall.

The closed face cribbings of the prior art, as a general rule, areprovided with headers which have heads projecting from the face of thecribbing, where they detract from the appearance of the cribbing, and insome cases, such projecting heads may be broken off, rendering theheader ineffective to perform its function. The headers in the priorcribbings have also been so associated with the stretchers that anyheader bears the. weight of the headers and stretchers above it, and thebearing strength of the header has limited the height to which acribbing may be built.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improvedclosed face cribbing structure in which the face of the cribbing has noprojecting parts to mar its appearance, or capable of being broken off.

Another object is the provision of an improved cribbing in whichsubstantially the entire top and bottom surfaces of the stretchers maybe used as bearing surfaces, thereby greatly increasing the strength ofthe cribbing and the practical height to which the cribbing may bebuilt.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved cribbinginwhich the headers are merely used to prevent lateral movement of thestretchers, without support,- ing the cribbing above them, and in whichthe headers are enclosed and protected by the stretchers at the face ofthe cribbing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and from the accompanying drawings, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets;

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cribbing constructed according to the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a portion of the same cribbing;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig.4 is an exploded View in perspective showing the ends if a pair. ofheaders and stretchers about to be assembled as shown in Fig. 1. I

In the embodiment chosen :to illustrate the invention, 10 indicates thecribbing in its entirety, which may. consist of a forward stretcher wall11, a plurality of transverse or backwardly extending header Walls 12,and one or more longitudinally extending rear stretcher walls 13. v

The rear wall stretchers 15 may consist of elongated concrete membershaving plane rectangular sides and ends, the rear stretchers beingpreferably square in cross-section, so as to eliminate any'possibilityof the stretchers being laid onthe wrong side. The headers 14 maycomprise elongated concrete members of substantially rectangularcross-section provided at one or both ends with heads 16 ofsubstantially T-sha-pe. That is, the heads 16 are formed by providingthe ends of the headers 14 with two laterally projecting legs or members17, also substantially rectangular in cross-section, forming transverseshoulders 18 at the ends of headers 14 for engaging the outside ofadjacent stretchers to prevent lateral movement of said stretchers. Thelength of any leg 17 on the header '14 is preferably less than one-halfthe depth of the stretchers 15 so that the legs 17 do not engageadjacent parts of the headers above or below them.

The stretchers 20 comprise elongated concrete members, each of which isprovided with a plane rectangular face 19 adapted to form a part of thesubstantially closed and finished forward surface of the stretcher wall11. Each of the front stretchers 20 is also provided with asubstantially plane upper bearing surface 21 and a substantially planelower bearing surface 22, which may comprise substantially the entiretop and bottom surface of the front stretcher 20.

- In some embodiments of the invention, the front stretchers 20 may beprovided with a longitudinally extending slot 23 at one side for forminga drainage slot when the front stretchers are in an assembled relationas shown 1 in Fig. 1, and in the preferred embodiment, it iscontemplated that the drainage opening may be reduced to about one inchin width, thereby overcoming the objection present in the priorcribbings of the filling material leaching through the face of the wall.

In order to give the face of the forward wall 11 a uniform appearance,the faces 19 of the front stretchers 20 may be uniformly provided with abeveled surface 24 surrounding the face 19, and the width of the beveledportion upon the face may be substantially equal to the width of theslot 23.

At each of its ends, each of the front stretchers 20 is provided with ahead 25 which may be formed by substantially widening the stretcher20adjacent the ends to increase the bearing surfaces and provide space forthe formation of the longitudinally projects ing lug 26, headerreceiving slot or socket 27 and header concealing portion or apron 28.

In order to form the head 25, each stretcher 20 is provided with an endportion of greater width having substantially parallel sides at 29, andhaving a tapering portion at 30. The central portion 31 of each frontstretcher may be of the usual thickness provided in stretchers forcribbing. The head 25 of each front stretcher 20 is provided with alongitudinally extending lug 26, which may be of substantiallyrectangular cross-section, and which is adapted to have an interlockingengagement with the legs 17 on headers 14.

The lugs 26 are of slightly less length than half the horizontalthickness of the headers 14, so that adjacent lugs 26 on two frontstretchers 20 may be placed end to end without interference forsupporting one header 14. The header concealing portion 28 of the head25 on front stretchers 20, comprises an integral forward part of thestretcher having a plane rectangular end, which isadapted to abut flatlyagainst a similar portion of an adjacent header, and which is of equallength or slightly greater length than one-half the horizontal width ofa header 14, to insure the complete closure of the cribbing at the endsof the stretchers.

In order to form a socket in the assembled front cribbing wall 11 foreach of the headers 14, the head 25 of each front stretcher 20 is cutaway at its ends, forming a vertical slot 27 between lug 26 and headerconcealing portion 28. The horizontal width of slot 27 is equal to orslightly greater than the horizontal thickness of one of the legs 17,measuring longitudinally of header 14 so that a leg 1? may be receivedin slot 27.

The vertical dimension of lug 26 in Fig.4 is slightly more thanone-half'the length of thelug 17 carried by headers 14, so that eachheader will be supported upon the lug 26 without engagement betweensuccessive headers in the walls 12. The heads 25 of front stretchers 20are also cut away above and belateral movement of the stretchers.

low the lugs 26 at 32 and 33 to provide a space above and below the lug26 for receiving half of the body portion 34 of the headers 14.

It will thus beobserved that when two of the front stretchers 20 areplaced end to end, the faces 19 of the front stretchers will form. acontinuous closed face wall 11, the lugs 26 will abut against each otherand the adjacent heads 25 of the stretchers will form sockets forreceiving the heads 16 on headers 14, as well as a short portion ofheader body 34 immediately adjacent heads 16.

It should be understood that if desired, a closed face wall 11 may beprovided at both the front and back of the cribbing, or two closed facewalls may be provided with a plurality of intermediate walls formed ofstretchers 15, held in place by several series of headers 14.

It should also be understood that both the headers and stretchers willbe reinforced with metal members located in the corners of the concretemembers adjacent the surface and having portions extending into all ofthe projecting lugs or formations.

The mode of assembly of the present cribbing may be best understood fromFigs. 3 and 4. If desired, the usual foundation may be provided for thelongitudinally tending cribbing walls, after which a plurality of thefront stretchers20 may be laid end to, end upon the foundation for thefront wall 11. A plurality of the rear stretchers 15 are then laid endto end parallel to the front stretchers 20 and spaced therefrom adistance determined by the headers 14, aft-- er which headers 14 may belaid with one head 16 in, the socket formed at the ends of stretchers 20and opposite head 16, outside of stretchers 15. The legs 17 on headers14 will then engage the outside of lugs 26 on stretchers 20, but theheads 16 will be concealed behind the front portion 28 of stretchers 20,and substantially half of the heads 14 will project above the stretchers20 to be received in a similar socket formed by the two adjacentstretchers above the first course of stretchers.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the proportions of the .partsare such that suflicient tolerance is provided at 35 and 86 betweenparts of the headers 14, so that each header is merely supported uponthe lugs 26, but the headers do not support each other, nor do theysupport the weight of stretchers above them. By reason of the engagementof shoulders 18 on the headers 14 with the shoulders on lugs 26 and withparts of.

stretchers 15, the stretcher walls are interlocked with the header wallsso as to prevent At the stretcher walls, constructed with the stretchers20, the headers are secured against lat eral 0r longitudinal anovement,and the stretchers are secured against lateral movement outward orinward.

The wall may be completed by layin additional front stretchers 20 uponthe front stretchers already laid and by alternately placing headers 14across parts of stretchers 20 and 15, as shown in 3.

If desired, a number of auxiliary stretchers 15 may be placed beneaththe lowest header 14 adjacent the lowest front stretcher in order togive increased bearing surface for the entire structure when the fillingis in place.

It will thus be observed that the cribbing constructed according to thepresent invention is provided with a closed face wall adapted to give afinished appearance to the cribbing, and adapted to enclose and protectthe headers. Furthermore, the stretchers may be provided with a greatlyincreased bearing surface and laid directly upon each other, so that thepresent cribbing may utilize the entire length of the stretcher asbearing surface, as distinguished from the cribbings of the prior artwhere the bearing surface is limited to the contacting portion of twotransverse members.

WVhile Ihave illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, manymodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire tosecure by Let-- ters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a cribbing, the combination of aplu- 40 rality of front stretchershaving plane forward surfaces, plane upper surfaces and plane bottomsurfaces, with a plurality of headers extending transversely to saidstretchers, said stretchers being laid upon each other and adjacent toeach other to form a closed face wall, and interlocking shoulderscarried by said headers and stretchers behind said closed face forpreventing lateral movement of said stretchers, said shoulderscomprising a T shaped formation at the end of said headers, and alongitudinally projecting lug at the ends of said stretchers.

2. A stretcher for cribbing comprising a pre-cast member having planebottom surface and a plane upper surface and having a plane forwardsurface, said stretcher having an enlarged end portion with alongitudinally projecting forward apron for enclosing intel-lockingconnections betweensaid stretcher and other units and said stretcherhaving a longitudinally projecting lug located behind said apron.

3. A stretcher for cribbing comprising a pre-cast member having planebottom surface 65 and a plane upper surface and having a plane forwardsurface, said stretcher having an enlarged end portion with alongitudinally projecting forward apron for enclosing interlockingconnections between said stretcher and other units and said stretcherhaving a longitudinally projecting lug located behind said apron, saidlug being located between the top and bottom of said stretcher and saidstretcher having a slot between said lug and said apron for receivingcomplementary parts on a header.

4. In a cribbing, the combination of a plurality'of front stretchershaving plane forward surfaces, plane upper surfaces and plane bottomsurfaces, with a plurality of headers extending transversely to saidstretchers, said stretchers being laid. upon each other and adjacent toeach other to form a closed face wall, said header having verticallyprojecting lugs for engaging with said stretcher and said stretcherhaving longitudinally projecting aprons for enclosing said lugs, saidstretcher having a longitudinally projecting lug located on the side ofsaid header opposite to said aprons.

5. In a cribbing the combination of a plurality of front stretchers eachhaving upper and lower plane surfaces said stretchers being laid oneupon the other to form a closed face flush forward wall, said stretcherseach being formed with a longitudinally projecting apron at each end anda longitudinally proj ecting lug behind said apron forming recesses insaid cribbing for receiving interlocking lugs behind said apron, saidinterlocking lugs being carried by transverse headers.

6. A stretcher for cribbing walls, comprising a precast concrete memberhaving a plane upper surface, a plane lower surface and a plane forwardsurface, said stretcher having a slot extending longitudinally into itsend to form a longitudinally extending lug on the end of said stretcherfor supporting a header, and a longitudinally extending apron carried byeach of said stretcher to close the face of the cribbing in front ofsaid lug, said stretcher having a bevel located on the forward cornersof its face and having a drainage slot corresponding in depth to theprojection of said bevel on a vertical plane.

Inwitness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 15 day of March,1929.

JOHN S. HUNTOON.

